Protect Yourself From Email Phishing Attacks

Apr 03, 2013

In the pre-Internet era, con men (also known as confidence men) would gain victims' confidence through the use of deception, to defraud them. The same principles are being used today, only now with even greater efficiency through the use of online scams. One of the most prolific means for online scamming is phishing.

"Gone Phishing"

When using email, it is difficult to know with certainty who you are communicating with. Scammers will use this uncertainty to pose as legitimate businesses, organizations, or individuals and gain the trust of users. They can leverage this trust to convince users to willingly give up information or click on malicious links or attachments.

To gain users' trust, scammers will appear like legitimate businesses or organizations by spoofing an email address, creating a fake website with legitimate logos, and even providing telephone numbers to an illegitimate customer service center operated by the scammers. Being mindful and observant can help you defend against scammers' deceptions by being prepared and proactive.

Two Common Types of Phishing Attacks

PHISHING SCAMS are perhaps one of the best-known forms of email scams. This type of scam involves a scammer pretending to have a fortune that he or she is incapable of accessing without the help of someone trustworthy, which happens to be you! The scammers will try to obtain the user's financial information using an empty promise of sharing the wealth in exchange for the user's help.

SPEAR PHISHING is a targeted and personalized attack in which a specific organization or individual is the target. These attacks will use information about the user's email address, which is similar to that of his or her acquaintances, to entice the user to either divulge sensitive information or download a malicious file. This often requires a lot of information gathering on the target and has become one of the favored tricks used in cyberespionage.

Be Mindful

When it comes to phishing, the best line of defense is you. If you are mindful of potential phishing traps and observant of the telltale signs of a scam, you can better defend against a phishing attack. Here are some easy tips to protect yourself:

Be cautious about all communications you receive, including those purported to be from "trusted entities," and be careful when clicking links contained within those messages. If in doubt, do not click.

Do not respond to any spam-type emails.

Do not send your personal information via email. Legitimate businesses will not ask users to send their sensitive personal information through this means.

Do not input your information in a pop-up advertisement. If you are interested in an offer that you see in a pop-up ad, contact the retailer directly through its website home page, retail outlet, or other legitimate contact methods.

Be Observant

Phishers rely on their deception to entice users to willingly do what the phishers want. Their deception is based upon resembling legitimate websites or trusted sources. These phishing scams can be very realistic and difficult to identify.

However, there are some telltale signs that may indicate a phishing scam. By being observant of these, you can help minimize your risk of becoming a victim. Keep an eye out for these simple telltale signs of a phishing email:

The email has poor spelling or grammar.

For secure transactions, look for a lock icon in the URL.

The use of threats or incredible offers is a common tactic that tries to elicit an emotional response to cloud the user's judgment.

The URL does not match that of the legitimate website. Scammers cannot use the same URL associated with a legitimate website, so they will tweak the address of their spoofed website so that at a quick glance it looks legitimate.

The URL may use a different domain name (for example: .com vs .net).

The URL may use variations of the spelling of the actual Web address.

Be Aware of Attachments

Do not trust a file based on its extension. There are a variety of tricks to hide the nature of a file. While the simplest solution is not to download a file from an unknown user, below are some additional things you can look for:

Be cautious about double file extensions. One way the extension can be hidden is by adding a second extension, such as "Evil.pdf.exe," so that it looks like a regular PDF, with the ".exe" hidden.

Be wary of container files, such as ZIP files. Any number of files can be packaged inside, including malicious ones.

Beware of attached files. Malicious code can also be embedded in commonly emailed files, such as Word® files and PDFs, giving you another reason why you should only open attachments from trusted sources.

Do not open executable files. These are files with an ".exe" extension.

Lastly, make sure you have an up-to-date anti-virus software program installed. Enable the feature to scan attachments with the anti-virus program before downloading and saving them to your computer.

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